For the rest of readers confused about this thread - Peter Attia (longevity & performance focused doctor) did a long blog series on atherosclerosis https://pet

For the rest of readers confused about this thread - Peter Attia (longevity & performance focused doctor) did a long blog series on atherosclerosis https://peterattiamd.com/the-straight-dope-on-cholesterol-part-i/ https://peterattiamd.com/the-straight-dope-on-cholesterol-pa... my TL;DR (as a non-doctor): LDL "cholesterol" (actually proteins carrying cholesterol and "fat" (triglycerides) in blood) has a tendency to get "stuck" in artery walls. That causes inflamation, which attracts macrophages which also get stuck, and so on until you get plaques ("clogged arteries") and one plaque breaks off and causes a heart attack. Consuming saturated fat / cholesterol is problematic because it causes a decrease of LDL-sensitive receptors and consequentially more LDL in blood. If I understand correctly, the later part of the previous statement is considered settled science ("we know how it actually works" - 1985 Nobel Prize was awarded for this), while the first part (diet) seems to be somewhat debated and has mostly statistical justification ("evidence suggests") and also depends on an individual's genetics.